FM Chung says N. Korea sanctions relief can be an option if it accepts dialogue offer

North Korea's recent missile test underscores the need for engaging the reclusive state and sanctions relief can be considered as part of incentives to bring it back to the negotiating table, Seoul's top diplomat said Wednesday. Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong was speaking at a parliamentary audit session, hours after the North said it has successfully test-fired a new type of submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) on Tuesday. "We should take some actions to prevent North Korea from

Oct. 20, 2021

S. Korea receives UN investment promotion award

South Korea's trade investment promotion agency has received an award from a United Nations body in recognition of best practices in promoting investment in healthcare sectors amid the COVID-19 pandemic, officials said Wednesday. Invest Korea, the country's investment promotion unit under the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), was chosen as the winner of the 2021 Investment Promotion Awards by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), along with Costa Rica a

Oct. 20, 2021

N. Korean missile launch highlights need to engage in diplomacy: official

WASHINGTON -- North Korea's latest missile launch highlights the urgent need to engage with the reclusive state in dialogue, a senior South Korean official said Tuesday. The official also said South Korea, Japan and the United States share concerns over the North's missile launch. "There were concerns since the North's continued missile launches may affect our efforts (to resume dialogue) to a certain extent as we discuss ways to bring North Korea back to dialogue," the official said

Oct. 20, 2021

N. Korean missile launch underscores 'urgent' need for dialogue: White House

WASHINGTON -- The United States remains ready to engage with North Korea anytime and anywhere, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday, adding that North Korea's missile tests underscored the urgent need to engage with the reclusive state. North Korea fired what appeared to be a submarine-launched ballistic missile on Tuesday (Seoul time), marking its eighth missile test so far this year. "These launches also underscore the urgent need for dialogue and diplomacy. Our offer rema

Oct. 20, 2021

US condemns N. Korean missile launch as threat to region: State Dept.

The US State Department on Tuesday condemned North Korea's latest missile launch as a threat to the region while urging the reclusive state to engage in dialogue. "The United States condemns the DPRK's ballistic missile launch. These launches are a violation of multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions and are a threat to the region," a State Department spokesperson told Yonhap News Agency in an email. "We call on the DPRK to refrain from further provocations and enga

Oct. 19, 2021

Plant Hope for Humankind in Mongolia’s Gobi Desert

Ecological economist Lester R. Brown in his book “Plan B 3.0” suggested six grand strategies for overcoming the global climate and ecological crises, one of which is to restore lost forests around the world. Forests originally covered around 60 to 70 percent of land (13 billion hectares). However, the proportion of forests has been reduced to around 31 percent (4 billion hectares) due to the desertification, deforestation, conversion of forest, and expansion of agricultural and past

Oct. 19, 2021

S. Korean, US, Japanese intel chiefs to hold trilateral talks in Seoul

The intelligence chiefs of South Korea, the United States and Japan were to hold a closed-door trilateral meeting in Seoul on Tuesday to discuss North Korea and other pending issues, a government source said. Park Jie-won, the head of South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS), was set to sit down with Avril Haines, the US director of national intelligence, and Hiroaki Takizawa, Japan's Cabinet intelligence director, according to the source. During the talks, the top intel officials are

Oct. 19, 2021

US envoy for N. Korea to visit Seoul for talks on end-of-war declaration

US Special Representative for North Korea Policy Sung Kim will visit Seoul this week for talks on ways to restart dialogue with the reclusive North, including an end-of-war declaration, the US diplomat said Monday. Kim's trip to Seoul will follow his meeting with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts, Noh Kyu-duk and Takehiro Funakoshi, respectively, here in Washington this week. "Special Representative Noh and I also discussed the end of war proposal, and I look forward to continuin

Oct. 19, 2021

Blinken meets IAEA director-general for talks on Iran, N. Korea

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Monday for talks on a wide range of issues that the chief of the nuclear watchdog said will include North Korea. The meeting between Blinken and IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi marked the first of its kind since the top US diplomat took office in January. "The United States strongly supports the work of the IAEA. It is critical to helping to maintain international peace and stabi

Oct. 19, 2021

S. Korea voices concern over Japan's Fukushima water release plan

South Korea has expressed concern over the new Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's plan to release radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant into the ocean, Seoul officials said Monday. Kishida on Sunday visited the tsunami-stricken Fukushima nuclear plant and said the planned disposal of wastewater stored in the facility cannot be delayed, sticking to his predecessor's plan to discharge the water into the sea beginning in 2023. "Japan's decision (to discharge the

Oct. 18, 2021

Seoul 'regrets' over Kishida's Yasukuni offering

South Korea’s Foreign Ministry on Sunday expressed “deep regret” over Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s sending of a ritual offering to the Yasukuni war shrine, which is seen by its Asian neighbors as a symbol of Japan’s wartime aggression.  Kishida sent a “masakaki” tree offering under his name as prime minister to celebrate the shrine’s two-day fall festival that runs through Monday, according to Japan’s Kyodo News.  It

Oct. 17, 2021

Vice FM leaves for Europe for senior-level talks on security, diplomatic ties

South Korea's first vice foreign minister left for London on Sunday for talks with British officials on bilateral relations, the security situation on the Korean Peninsula and other issues of mutual interest, his office said. The weeklong trip by Choi Jong-kun will take him to Belgium where he will attend the seventh session of the Korea-EU High-level Political Dialogue for in-depth discussions on ways to boost their ties and regional security circumstances, it said. Choi is also set to meet w

Oct. 17, 2021

IAEA chief vows close consultations with S. Korea over Japan's Fukushima water release plan

The chief of the UN nuclear watchdog has vowed to continue close consultations with South Korea and other nations over Japan's plan to discharge radioactive water from its crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant into the ocean, Seoul's foreign ministry said Sunday. Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), made the pledge during his meeting with Ham Sang-wook, Seoul's deputy foreign minister for multilateral affairs, in Vienna on Friday, according to the m

Oct. 17, 2021

Kishida sends offerings to controversial Yasukuni Shrine: report

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Sunday sent offerings to a controversial war shrine for the first time since taking office this month, a news report said. Kishida sent a "masakaki" tree to the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo to celebrate its two-day Autumn festival that runs through Monday, according to Japan's Kyodo news agency. It marked the first time Kishida has sent an offering to the shrine, seen as a symbol of the country's past militarism, since he took office earlier this

Oct. 17, 2021

US allies vow cooperation on cybercrime

The US allies -- about 30 countries including South Korea, Japan, the UK and Canada -- vowed to bolster cooperation to combat the growing threat of ransomware and other cybercrimes, at an online session hosted by the White House National Security Council, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Friday. The two-day meeting, which ended Thursday, took place as the US seeks to broaden oversight of the cryptocurrency market after ransomware attacks recently destabilized its food and energy supplies.

Oct. 15, 2021

S. Korea considering 'diverse' ways with US for N. Korea dialogue: ministry

South Korea is closely cooperating with the United States on "diverse" measures to restart talks with North Korea, the unification ministry said Friday, after the US said it had made overtures to Pyongyang. "Through close communication, South Korea and the United States have pursued a completely coordinated North Korea policy," Cha Duck-chul, the ministry's deputy spokesperson, said in a regular press briefing. "Diverse measures to engage with the North are being closel

Oct. 15, 2021

S. Korean, US diplomats discuss follow-up measures on summit agreement

South Korea and the United States held working-level diplomatic talks in Hawaii to review progress in the implementation of their latest summit agreement, Seoul's foreign ministry said Friday. Ko Yun-ju, the ministry's director general for North American affairs, and Mark Lambert, US deputy assistant secretary of state for Japan and South Korea, attended the third Bilateral Policy Dialogue (BPD) held on Thursday (local time), the ministry said. The two sides discussed pending diplomatic and s

Oct. 15, 2021

Top nuke envoys of S. Korea, US, Japan to meet in Washington over NK diplomacy

The top nuclear envoys of South Korea, the United States and Japan will meet trilaterally in Washington next week to discuss joint efforts to bring North Korea back to dialogue, the foreign ministry said Friday. The planned talks among Seoul's chief nuclear negotiator, Noh Kyu-duk, and his US and Japanese counterparts, Sung Kim and Takehiro Funakoshi, come as Seoul is stepping up diplomacy to salvage its peace drive following a recent series of North Korean missile launches, including a hyperso

Oct. 15, 2021

US awaits N. Korean response to US proposals for dialogue: State Dept.

WASHINGTON -- The United States continues to be prepared to meet with North Korea without preconditions as it awaits the North's response to its "specific proposals," a State Department spokesperson said Thursday. Ned Price also stressed that the US remains actively engaged in diplomacy with its allies to discuss ways to enhance their collective security. "We do stand prepared to meet with the DPRK without preconditions. We have made, in fact, specific proposals to the DPRK and

Oct. 15, 2021

US needs to reassure allies against N. Korean threats: US expert

WASHINGTON -- The United States must reassure its allies of American commitment to help defend them against possible North Korean attacks to prevent key strategic alliances from falling apart, a former US ambassador to NATO said Thursday. Ivo Daalder, currently serving as president of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, an independent global affairs think tank, also argued US failure to do so may encourage its allies to consider having nuclear capabilities themselves. "So one of the th

Oct. 15, 2021